Sa`id Reza’i (سعید رضایی) one of the imprisoned “Yaran” (national facilitators for the Bahais in Iran), has been released from Raja’i Shahr prison at the end of a ten year sentence for his activities in service of the Bahais of Iran.

Mr. Reza’i (link opens in PDF format), now aged 60, is an agricultural engineer who ran a successful farming equipment business in Fars Province. He is also known for his extensive scholarship on Bahai topics, and is the author of several books and has served as an academic adviser to Bahai students. He taught Bahai children’s classes for many years, and served the Baha’i Education and Baha’i Life Institutes. He was also a member of the National Education Institute.

During the early 1980s, when persecution of Bahais was particularly intense and widespread, Mr. Rezaie moved to northern Iran and worked as a farming manager for a time. Later he moved to Kerman and worked as a carpenter and at other odd jobs in part because of the difficulties Bahais faced in finding formal employment or operating businesses. In 1985, he opened an agricultural equipment company with a Baha’i friend in Fars Province. That company prospered and won wide respect among farmers in the region.

He has experienced various forms of persecution for his Baha’i belief, including an arrest and detention in 2006 that led to 40 days in solitary confinement.
His two daughters were among 54 Baha’i youth who were arrested in Shiraz in May 2006 while engaged in a humanitarian project aimed at helping underprivileged young people. They were later released but three of their colleagues were sentenced to four years in prison on false charges and are currently incarcerated in Shiraz.

In August 2013 he was hospitalized due to a gastrointestinal disorder, and was transferred back to Rajai Shahr prison on August 7. During his treatment, tests revealed that he also has a 70% blockage in his coronary artery. He underwent emergency heart surgery. Doctors ordered one month of after care in a quiet and suitable location. Ignoring the doctor’s orders for post-op care, officials returned him to Raja’i Shahr prison.

Jamaloddin Khanjani (جمال الدین خانجانی), one of the imprisoned “Yaran” (national facilitators for the Bahais in Iran), has been taken from Rajai Shahr prison to a cardiac care unit in hospital. It appears he suffered a heart attack in prison. He is now aged 86. He is now one month from the end of a 10-year sentence for his work in serving the Bahai community in Iran. He had had heart surgery before entering prison, and suffered a heart attack in prison, in January 2014, when he was taken to Pars Hospital in Tehran for treatment.

Another of the Yaran, Sa`id Reza’i (سعید رضایی), is expected to be released on February 17.

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At 7.30 in the morning of February 13, security forces staged coordinated raids on the homes of Bahais in the Province of Bushehr and arrested at least seven Bahais. Those arrested are named as Minou Reyazati (مینو ریاضتی), Asadollah Jaberi (اسدالله جابری) and his wife Ehteram Shakhi(احترام شخی), Emad Jaberi (عماد جابری), Leqa Faramarzi (لقا فرامرزی) and Puneh Nashari (پونه ناشری). Their homes were thoroughly searched, and personal effects such as laptops, books, flash drives, external hard drives, and family photograph albums were seized. Mr. Jaberi and his wife were detained at their workplace. No information on the reasons for the raids or where the Bahais are being detained is available thus far.

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Mrs. Elham Faramani (الهام فراهانی) was released from Evin prison on February 11, at the end of a four-year sentence. Her son Shamim Na’imi ( شمیم نعیمی) was released in March 2017, at the end of a three-year sentence, while her husband `Adel Na`imi (عادل نعیمی), is still in Raja’i Shahr prison, serving a 10-year sentence for his Bahai beliefs. The charges against this family, as in the cases of other Bahais detained in Iran’s prisons, were “propaganda against the regime, membership in illegal groups, and assembly and collusion, in order to disturb national security.”

Mrs. Farahani was arrested by security agents on July 10, 2012, along with her husband. Their son Shamim was arrested a few days after his parents. After two months of interrogation in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, she was released on bail of 100 million tumans (equivalent then to 66,500 euros; 81,600 US dollars). She was sentenced to four years imprisonment by the notorious human rights abuser Judge Moqayesseh (قاضی مقیسه). She and her son began their sentences on May 11, 2014.

In December, 2015, Mrs. Farahani was allowed a 7 day prison furlough and was able to meet her husband and son in Rajai Shahr Prison. In December 2016, Mrs. Farahani was transferred to hospital and operated upon, after she lost her balance, fell and broke her right elbow. She suffers from severe arthritis in the arms and neck.

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Hana Kushkabaghi ( هنا کوشکباغی ) from Gonbad-e Kabus, was released from the “integrated prison’ there On February 5, after serving one third of her sentence of one year and nine months. Her release is conditional. She began her sentence on October 11, 2017, but the time she was detained before her trial would also be counted.

She was one of 22 Bahais of Golestan Province who were arrested on October 17, 2012. They were charged with collaborating with hostile governments, effective activities to promote the goals of a sect and of anti-Islamic and anti-Shiah hostile governments, and with making propaganda in favour of the Bahai Faith and against the regime of the Islamic Republic, by participating in the ‘Ruhi program’ (Bahai catechism) in Golestan Province. She was originally sentenced to 9 years, but this was reduced by the Review Court.

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Mr. Eyman Rashidi (ایمان رشیدی) was released from prison in Yazd on February 2. He and his wife Shabnam Motahed (شبنم متحد) were among a large number of Bahais who were arrested on July 31, 2012, as part of a wave of arrests in Isfahan, Shahin Shahr (a city in Isfahan province), Vila Shahr (on the outskirts of Najafabad, also in Isfahan province) and in Yazd. They were released on bail on August 27 that year and tried in Yazd on August 24, 2013. They were charged with propaganda against the regime and acting against national security through the establishment and membership of the secret organization (the Bahai community). Mr. Rashidi was sentenced to three years in prison and a one year suspended sentence, while his wife received a sentence of two years and one year suspended. These sentences were confirmed in late April, 2014. Both entered prison on March 18, 2015. Mrs. Motahed completed her sentence on January 24, 2017.

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On January 27, 2018, Sima Kiani (سیما کیانی), a Bahai resident of Shahr-e Rey, near Tehran, was tried and convicted on the charge of propaganda against the regime, and sentenced to one year in prison by the Shahr-e Rey Revolutionary Court. A source close to Ms. Kiani’s family reported, “At noon yesterday, Sima was sentenced to one year in prison at the Shahr-e Rey revolutionary court. After the end of the session, Sima was arrested and transferred to jail.”

Ms. Kiani was arrested by Security Forces for the first time on March 8, 2017 and had been out on bail of 200 million Tomans (equal to $45,000) since early April 2017. It is said that at the time of her arrest. all of Ms. Kiani’s books, articles, CDs, as well as her personal computer, were confiscated by Security Forces.

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Neda Eshraqi Borujeni (ندا اشراقی بروجنی), a student of computer science at the University of Kashan, has been expelled because of her Bahai beliefs. On December 18, 2017, she was contacted by the University security office [a branch of the Ministry of Intelligence], and she went to the office on December 23. There, she was asked to write, on a form they provided, that she was a Bahai, and to sign it. Her student card was then confiscated and she was barred from the student dormitory and the University’s web site for students. She was not given a written statement that she had been expelled, but was told that she had been expelled because of her Bahai beliefs and should pursue the matter with the National Organization of Educational Testing.

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According to HRANA, on January 15, 2018, Faramarz (Hooshang) Sabet-Rasekhi {فرامرز (هوشنگ) ثابت راسخ}, a Bahai living in Karaj, was arrested and sent to prison by the Law Enforcement Office of the Governmental Sanctions Court of Alborz Province. The arrest occurred when Mr. Sabet-Rasekhi appeared at the court, with his business associates and attorney, to inquire about payment of a 50 million tuman fine ($15,000) which resulted following the unjustified forced closure and sealing of his place of business, in November 2016, by government officials. Upon his appearance, Mr. Sabet-Rasekhi was subjected to mistreatment by employees of the court and arrested.

Mr. Sabet-Rasekhi’s business has remained closed since November 2016; he and his business associates have not had the means to raise the funds to pay the fine.

A source informed of Mr. Sabet-Rasekhi’s situation, told the HRANA the following:

“In November 2016 ‘Negah Glasses’, the place of business of partners Iraj Sabet-Rasekhi (ایرج ثابت راسخی), Houshang Sabet-Rasekhi and Ashkan Yousefi (اشکان یوسفی
بعنوان شریک ), located on the Second Fardis Circle in Karaj, along with more than thirty other businesses belonging to other Bahais, was shut down by various governmental oversight officers with various excuses.”

“The business unit of Mr. Sabetrasekhi, with about 31 years of experience and a stellar reputation and no wrongdoing, was shut down and sealed in November of 2016, by the Office of Governmental Sanctions of Alborz Province. This, while Article 62, Paragraph A, B, and C of the Sanctions Law on smuggling of contraband states that the shutting down of the trade unit is illegal for the first offense and even for the second offense within a period of one year, even if the crime has been proven by the appropriate court, it is still illegal (to shut down the business). Considering that the (above) business unit was not a wholesale store, but was instead a retail business, and all of the goods at the place of business had a distinct price tag, and associated invoice from domestic suppliers, the incident of business closures are indicative of the existence of a setup.”

“Over the past year, invoices, which all were issued by domestic companies, were provided to the court. However, after about a year and a half of forced closure of the business with an inventory of 850 glasses frames, where all accompanying domestic purchasing receipts had already been provided (to the court), and although the owners were not even the importers of the goods, and contrary to Article 62, Paragraph C which states: ‘if the owner of the business unit has committed three violations within a year, only upon committing the third violation and after being proven guilty in the court, the place of business can be shut down for only 6 months’, the court unjustly ordered them to pay a fine of 50 million tumans. This verdict was confirmed in the Appeals Branch of the Sanctions Court of the Province of Alborz.”

Regarding the arrest of Mr. Sabetrasekhi, this source told HRANA, “Over the past year, Mr. Iraj Sabet-Rasekhi and Mr. Ashkan Yousefi, as business partners, have been in difficult economic situation along with their families, due to the closure of their business. The illegal nature of the court proceedings has been brought to the attention of the authorities of the Province and the country, but unfortunately no response has been issued. January 15, 2018, with only five more days until the due date of the imposed fine, Mr. Houshang Sabet-Rasekhi as the business manager, and Mr. Ashkan Yousefi as his business partner, along with their attorney went to the office of Implementation of governmental sanctions to inquire about the method of payments of the fine, where they encountered harsh behavior of the authorities, and Mr. Faramrz Sabet-Rasekhi was detained due to his inability to pay the heavy fine imposed by the court.”

It should be noted that Mr. Sabet-Rasekhi’s brother, uncle and brother-in-law were executed by the Iranian government during the early years of the 1979 revolution, due to their religious beliefs as Bahais. The family was then living in the village of Fereydoun in the vicinity of Isfahan. Because of their Bahai beliefs, all the family’s properties were confiscated by the government and Mr. Sabet-Rasekhi was ultimately forced to leave the area due to the threat to his life.

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Sadaf Vajdani (صدف وجدانی), a student of architectural engineering, was expelled from Razi University of Kermanshah because of her Bahai beliefs. She was notified of her expulsion just before the beginning of the first term examinations.

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Behzad Dhabihi Mahforujaki (بهزاد ذبیحی ماهفروجکی ), a Bahai from Sari, has been released from prison at the end of his six-month sentence. He was originally sentenced to one year in prison and two years in internal exile, but this sentence was reduced by the Court of Review to six months in prison. It is not clear whether the internal exile was also annulled. He was convicted in the Islamic Court (that is, not in a criminal court) in Sari on a charge of propaganda against the regime in the form of teaching the Bahai Faith, although at the court sitting the charges were presented as “propaganda against Islam and the Quran.” He begin serving his sentence on September 4, 2017.

Mr. Dhabihi has been arrested four times in the last six years, and shops he ran have been shut down three times in the same period. On February 22, 2016, his shop in Sari was closed by the authorities, and remains closed despite efforts by his family to reopen it.

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Eighteen Bahai-run businesses in Tabriz that had been closed down by the authorities were allowed to re-open on January 10, following a court order. It would appear that they are among the Bahai businesses in East Azerbaijan province that were closed by the authorities in late December. Of these, three were allowed to reopen soon after, and the new move appears to mean that all Bahai-run businesses are now operating normally.

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Eight Bahai-run businesses in the southern city of Chabahar were allowed to reopen on January 7, 68 days after they were closed by the authorities there, but Bahai-run businesses elsewhere in the Sistan and Baluchistan Province remain closed. The businesses are named as optician’s shops of Habib Tauhidi (حبیب توحیدی), Ahmad Ali Shaukati (احمد علی شوکتی) and Bahadar Kamju (بهادر کامجو), the glass-cutting workshop of Roushan Barqi (روشن بارقی), a stationary shop run by Adharakhsh Barqi (آذرخش بارقی ), a building supplies shop belonging to Behrouz Gholamreza’i (هروز غلامرضایی) and the electrician’s business of Bijan Gholamreza’i (بیژن غلامرضایی) and a computer supplies shop run by Andalib Taudi`i (عندلیب تودیعی). They were sealed by the authorities on October 31, 2017. At that time, 18 Bahai-run businesses in Zahedan, four in Iranshahr and three in Saravan were also closed.

Bahadar Kamju and Roushan Barqi (along with four others) were recently sentenced to three years in prison for “membership of the deviant sect.”

Wafa Rasti (وفا راستی), a young Bahai living in Isfahan, was released on bail on January 2. He was arrested on December 27, at the same time as his friend Mo`in Namjuyan (معین نامجویان) was released on bail.

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Houthi militia in Yemen have sentenced Bahai detainee Hammed Kamal Mohammed bin Haidarah (حامد كمال محمد بن حيدرة) to death on charges of disseminating the beliefs of his faith and spying for Israel. The judgment issued by the Houthi-controlled Criminal Court in Sanaa also confiscated his funds and ordered the closure of all Bahai centres in the country. He has been detained since December, 2013.

Amnesty International responded with a statement that, “Hamid Haydara … is a prisoner of conscience who has been tried on account of his conscientiously held beliefs and peaceful activities as a member of the Baha’i community. This sentence is the result of a fundamentally flawed process, including trumped up charges, an unfair trial and credible allegations that Hamid Haydara was tortured and ill-treated in custody. It is also part of a wider crackdown on critics, journalists, human rights defenders and members of the Bahai community that is causing entire families to live in fear for their safety and the safety of their loved ones.”

In late September, the United Nations Human Rights Council, following a unanimous vote, called for the release of all Bahai detainees in Yemen. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion said earlier that the persecution of Bahais in Iran had been reflected in the pattern of persecution that this group is facing in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia. Militias have abducted dozens of Bahais. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (ONCHR) has estimated that there are about 2000 Bahais in Yemen, in several Yemeni provinces.

Mr. bin Haidarah is also referred to as Hamid Mirza Kamali Sarvestani (حامد ميرزا كمالي سروستاني), indicating that his ancestors came from Sarvestan, in Iran. In an earlier report, the Bahai World News Service stated that Mr. bin Haydara was born on Socotra Island in Yemen. His father, a physician, moved to Yemen from Iran in the 1940s and was granted Yemeni citizenship by the Mahra Sultan of Qishn and Socotra, in recognition of his service to the poor. Yemeni citizenship was passed down to his son. The Sultan gave Mr. bin Haydara’s father his Yemeni name as an honor and in recognition of his respect for his adopted country.

On December 25 and 26, two more Bahai-run businesses in Tabriz were closed down by the authorities, and many others were issued warnings of impending closure. These two businesses were run by Behnam Aqabala’i (بهنام آقابالایی), who sold household necessities, and `Ali-Reza Aqabala’i (علیرضا آقابالایی), who provided wire windings for electric motors. On December 28, three more Bahai business premises in Tabriz were sealed, bringing the total of recent closures in Tabriz to 18. These three businesses were a reading-glasses repair workshop run by Siamak Rouhani ( سیامک روحانى), an optician’s assembly shop run by Behnam Shukohi (بهمن شکوهى), and the unused business premises of Aziz Nourdel (زیز نوردل).

On the same day, three of the 18 recently closed businesses were allowed to reopen. They were the optical dispensary of Shahryar Khodapenah (شهریار خداپناه), and optical retail shop run by Nader Nourmuhammadi (نادر نور محمدى) and a women’s clothing shop run by Parham Sabari ( پرهام صابرى).

At present about 90 Bahai businesses in East Azerbaijan Province are sealed by the authorities, who have used arbitrary economic discrimination as a means of pressuring the Bahais to convert to Islam, especially during the term of President Rouhani. In addition to those mentioned above, these include (for those who can read Persian) the businesses of:

According to the reports by Baha’i Campaign, Paria Foroughi (پریا فروغی) was expelled from the Azad University of Kashan due to her belief in the Bahai Faith.

Ms. Foroughi was expelled by the President of Azad University of Kashan, after having studied Psychology for three semesters.

Ms. Foroughi shared the following:

“I was sitting for an exam when I was summoned to the University President’s office, and there I became aware of this, and an extraordinary sorrow overcame me.”

“The head of the university objected to the incompleteness of my registration form, and then I saw the form, he said ‘you have completed everything but the religion field, why did you not write your religion?’ I said I might have forgotten. He said, ‘no, it was not accidental that you forgot your religion. What is your religion?’ I said, ‘Bahai.’ He said, ‘write it down’, and I did. He said, ‘You know that according to the Islamic Republic’s law, you do not have a right to education?’ I said ‘yes’, he said, ‘Then wrap-up what you need to do and resign.’ I said ‘no you are expelling me from the university, I did not resign. You are expelling me due to my belief.’”

“He then said, ‘This law is for everyone.’ I answered, ‘Excuse me, but students from all the other countries have the right to study at the universities in our country, and I have no right to study in my own country? Is this correct and fair in your opinion?’ He answered, ‘it is certainly correct’, and asked, ‘Why did you say you are a Baha’i, to cause your expulsion?’ I answered, ‘Truthfulness is the foundation of the Baha’i Faith’, he said, ‘You have no right to study at this university, nor any other universities in Iran’, and laughed. I answered, ‘I’m proud that I was expelled due to my pure belief, there is no problem.”

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Mo`in Namjuyan (معین نامجویان) was arrested in his home in Isfahan on December 13. Agents of the security forces searched his home and seized some personal items, and took him away. It is not known where he is being detained.

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Yashar Rezvani (یاشار رضوانی), a Bahai from Kerman who has been living in Tehran, has been sentenced to 2 years in prison for “membership of the Bahai organisation.” At his trial,
Mr. Rezvani pointed out that no such organisation exists [in Iran, where it was banned and dissolved after the 1979 Revolution ~Sen], so he could not be a member. He was represented by a lawyer.

Mr. Rezvani was arrested in a raid on his home on August 3. After 33 days of solitary confinement and interrogation in Evin Prison, he was transferred to a general wing of the same prison. He was released on bail of 200 million tumans (56,000 euros; 64,000 $US), on September 28, pending his trial. He has 20 days to appeal, and his sentence has to be confirmed by the provincial Review Court.

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Negin Qadameyan (نگین قدمیان) a Bahai from Tehran who has been sentenced to five years in prison for educational crimes in relation to the Bahai Open University (BIHE), was arrested at
an airport on December 16, and has been taken to Evin Prison to begin her sentence. She was arrested, along with many others associated with the Open University, in May, 2011. On March 12, 2013, she and nine other Bahais associated with the Open University were tried. After the trial they were freed on bail or with a pledge, until summoned to begin their sentences.

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Mr. Faribourz Baghi (فریبرز باغی ) was released from prison in Yazd after serving three years in prison (counting his original detention) on charges of acting against national security and propaganda against the regime. He began his sentence on March 7, 2015. He is one of 20 Bahais who were arrested in central Iran in August 2012. The were released on bail one month later.

Mr. Baghi’s wife, Nateqeh Na’imi (ناطقه نعیمی), was also among those arrested in 2015, but received a shorter sentence and was released on parole on August 16, 2016.

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Mrs. Heyva Yazdan-Mahdiabadi (هیوا یزدان مهدی آبادی), a Bahai living in Yazd, was arrested in late November. An informed source said she was arrested for teaching music to children. She was at first held incommunicado by the Ministry of Intelligence, and a few days ago was transferred to the central prison in Yazd, where – after the usual quarantine period – she was allowed to use the telephone to contact her family.

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According to reports from the Bahai Campaign, another Bahai-owned business was shut down by officials from the Office of Properties in Tabriz on December 6. The business was operated by Touraj Mithaqi (تورج میثاقی).

According to a source close to Mr. Misaghi, “Over the past few days, Mr. Touraj Misaghi has been interrogated by the security forces and the law enforcement forces, and finally after being summoned and interrogated again, they shut down his business yesterday.”

In recent days, the businesses of four other Bahais in Tabriz, Shahryar Khodapanah (شهریار خداپناه), Anis Hokmran (انیس حکمران) in partnership with his father, Kheirollah Bakhshi (خیراله بخشی) and Payam Zafaryab (پیام ظفریاب).

On December 3rd, Shahindokht Molavardi, a special assistant to the President of Iran on civil rights issues made a statement to the media insisting that she “has made some inquiries, from the President’s Legal Assistant, about the closure and the blocking the Bahai commercial activities, and an attempt is being made to move this conversation forward through legislation until a solution to this issue is found.”

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Burhan Tebyanian (برهان تبیانیان), Noghmeh Shadabi (نغمه شادابی), Soheila Shadabi (سهیلا شادابی ) and Farzaneh Amini ( فرزانه امینی) have been released on bail of 100 million tumans each (72,000 euros ; $US 84,000), pending their trial. They were arrested on December 2 and December 3, and interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence. There is no indication of the charges they may face.

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On December 2, security forces went to the home of Burhan Tebyanian (برهان تبیانیان), a Bahai living in Kermanshah, when he was not present. They searched it and seized some of his belongings. They then contacted Mr. Tebyanian and demanded that he should go to the offices of the Ministry of Intelligence. When he did so, on December 3, he was arrested. The arrest of Mr. Tebyanian followed the arrest of three other Bahais in that city on December 2: they are Noghmeh Shadabi (نغمه شادابی), Soheila Shadabi (سهیلا شادابی ) and Farzaneh Amini ( فرزانه امینی). All four are still being detained, apparently by the Ministry of Intelligence.

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Behrouz Tavakkoli (بهروز توکلی), one of the seven “Yaran” who once functioned as national facilitators for the Bahai community in Iran, was freed from Raja’i Shahr prison on December 4, at the end of a 10-year sentence which he served in full without any furlough. Two other members of this group, Fariba Kamalabadi (فریبا کمال آبادی ) and Mahvash Sabet (مهوش ثابت) have already been released after serving 10 years in prison for their Bahai beliefs.

Mr. Tavakolli has a degree in psychology. After his military service (with a rank of Lieutenant) he was a social worker specialising in care for mental and physical disabilities, working in government service until the early 1980’s, when he lost his job. He became self-employed, with a carpentry workshop in Gonabad. He was at various times arrested and abused. On one accasion, before the arrest of the “Yaran” in 2008, he was held in solitary confinement without any charge against him for four months, which resulted in serious kidney and joint problems.

Background
The seven ‘Yaran’ served as national facilitators assisting the Bahais of Iran in their dealings with government organs until their arrest and imprisonment. They were appointed following the disappearance and execution of the elected leadership of the Bahais in Iran in 1980, and again in 1981. The elected leaders in many cities were also executed at that time, notably in Tehran, Tabriz, Yazd and Hamadan, where a total of 33 members of the local Bahai “Assemblies” were executed, in addition to the 18 members of the two national “Assemblies” and two assistants. In August 1983, the government declared the elected assemblies illegal. In accordance with the principle of obedience to government, the Bahais then dissolved all elected bodies. Nevertheless, seven former members of the national Assembly were arrested and executed. (see this Wikipedia article).

National and local facilitators were later appointed, principally because government bodies needed to have a Bahai representative to discuss necessary matters and to transmit government instructions to the Bahais, which were not publicised in the media. One of the most important tasks of the facilitators was to arrange for Bahai burials, as Bahais are often barred from burial in public cemeteries, and Bahai practice requires a coffin, which is not allowed in many public cemeteries.

On 5 March 2008, one of the Yaran, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet (مهوش ثابت) – a schoolteacher and mother of two – was arrested having been summoned to the Iranian city of Mashhad to discuss some matters regarding a Bahai burial. Two months later, on 14 May, the other six Yaran were arrested in raids of their homes. Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi was one of these, the others being Jamaloddin Khanjani (جمال الدین خانجانی), Afif Na`imi (عفیف نعیمی), Sa`id Reza’i (سعید رضایی), Behrouz Tavakkoli (بهروز توکلی), and Vahid Tizfahm (وحید تیزفهم).

After twenty months in prison without charge, a trial began on January 12, 2010, under Judge Moqayesseh (قاضی مقیسه, also spelled محمد مقیسه‌ای). Throughout their long wait for justice, the seven had received barely one hour’s access to their legal counsel, and suffered appalling treatment and deprivations, including psychological and physical hardship. They were charged with spying for Israel, propaganda against the Islamic Republic, and the establishment of an illegal administration – charges that were all rejected completely and categorically by the defendants. According to the defence lawyer, the charge of spying for Israel was based only on the fact that the Bahai properties in Israel are tax exempt. However Bahai properties are tax exempt in almost every country, and Islamic holy sites in Israel are tax exempt! The trial of the seven accused ended on 14 June 2010 after six brief sessions, characterized by their lack of due legal process.

The initial sentence of 20 years imprisonment for each of the defendants, met with outrage and condemnation throughout the world. One month later, the appeal court revoked three of the charges, including that of spying for Israel, and reduced their sentence to 10-year jail terms. In March 2011, the prisoners were informed that their original 20-year sentences were reinstated. In November, 2015, the 20-year sentences were again reduced to ten years. Despite repeated requests, neither the prisoners nor their attorneys have ever received official copies of the original verdict or the ruling on appeal.

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Three Bahais living in Kermanshah were arrested by security forced on December 2. They are Noghmeh Shadabi (نغمه شادابی), Soheila Shadabi (سهیلا شادابی ) and Farzaneh Amini ( فرزانه امینی , who is not pictured). So far there is no information on the reasons and circumstances for the arrest.

On the same day, Peyman Qiami (پیمان قیامی), a Bahai who was arrested in Kermanshah about three weeks ago has been released on bail. While he was in detention there were strong concerns about his health, but this report does not say whether he was well at the time of his release.

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Siamak Abdolhamidi (سیامک عبدالحمیدی) and Mrs Nadia Asadeyan (نادیا اسدیان), a Bahai couple living in Rasht who were arrested on October 24 and November 11, respectively, have been released on bail from Lakan prison.

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As previously reported, Bahnam Salehi (بهمن صالحی), one of the Bahais arrested in Birjand on October 21, was released on bail on November 18. It is now reported that on his release he was immediately hospitalized because of broken blood vessels and blood clotting in his legs, resulting from poor conditions during his interrogation. He was still in hospital at the time of the report (November 23), and his condition was satisfactory. He suffers from varicose veins, and was interrogated for long hours while held in postures inappropriate for a person with this condition. He received no medical care in prison, despite his deteriorating condition.

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.